


when you're home

by lostin_space



Series: Whumptober2020❤️️ [5]
Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Alcohol, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Guns, Hopeful Ending, Implied/Referenced Addiction, M/M, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:34:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26839810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostin_space/pseuds/lostin_space
Summary: After disappearing for a month, TK comes back home and Carlos isn't letting him off that easily.
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Series: Whumptober2020❤️️ [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947301
Comments: 7
Kudos: 79





	when you're home

**Author's Note:**

> whumptober day 5: where do you think you're going?
> 
> if I missed any tags, let me know

Carlos woke up in a bed that he didn’t recognize.

It was confusing and disorienting and he didn’t like it. When he lifted his head, the world seemed to spin and he found himself gripping the sheets to steady himself. Where was he? How did he get here?

He swallowed hard and looked around, trying to find something identifiable. It was just someone’s bedroom. Plain and unassuming, nothing noteworthy in the slightest. It was frustrating. Looking down at himself, he was still wearing his own clothes and his gun was still strapped to his hip. At least he knew no one searched him.

He slowly climbed out of bed and again had to catch himself. Did he get drunk or something? He couldn’t remember.

Still, Carlos steadied himself and slowly retrieved his gun. He held it in front of him and slowly started making his way to the door. When he opened it, he looked both ways and there wasn’t anyone to see. He slowly made his way down the hallway, still not knowing what he was going to find.

The more he tried to think about the night before, the more he came up empty handed. He didn’t like not being aware of what happened to him. He slowly made his way out of the hall and saw someone at the stove.

“Hands up!” Carlos commanded, watching the figure jump and quickly turn around. 

“Jesus Christ, it’s too early to be pulling a gun on me,” he said, half joking and half actually shaken. It was a face he probably would’ve recognized anywhere and Carlos immediately lowered the gun.

“TK?” he said. That only seemed to make the entire situation more confusing.

“Hey,” TK said, giving that charming smile of his, “Long time, no see.”

“What... When did you get back?” Carlos asked. After nearly relapsing again, TK had decided to go find himself by traveling to some place without really telling anyone where. Carlos decided it wasn’t his place to stop him.

“Got home yesterday, went go find you,” TK said. Carlos furrowed his eyebrows. “You, Sir, were blackout drunk.”

“What? No, I wasn’t,” he said. TK laughed softly and poured a mug of coffee. He stirred in just the right amount of milk before handing it to him. Carlos accepted it slowly.

“You absolutely were. Scared the shit out of me, not gonna lie,” he admitted. Carlos stayed silent. He went to the bar to have a drink and mourn having both his boyfriend and his best friend leave the state within the same month, but he didn’t remember getting drunk. “Lot of guys had their eyes on you and then I thought you were going to drive, it was a lot of stress.”

“Sorry,” he said, taking a sip of the coffee. It’d been awhile since someone made coffee for him without asking. “I... I didn’t know you were coming home.”

“It was going to be a surprise,” TK said, grinning as leaned against the counter. He looked good, lighter even. Carlos’ first thought was that happened after he left him. He very quickly had to reel that back in. TK’s close call had nothing to do with him, nor was it his fault that he felt better once he got alone. “I got you something.”

“I don’t want anything,” Carlos said. TK rolled his eyes and reached behind him, sliding over a bottle of advil.

“That’s not what I got you, but I figure you’re hungover,” he said. Carlos still watched him oddly despite taking two and washing them down with his coffee. He had too many questions that weren’t being answering.

“So, I just let you bring me home last night?” he asked. TK shrugged and nodded.

“Yeah, you were pretty happy to see me,” he said, flashing that same smile that made his stomach do flips. Carlos clenched his jaw and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. He didn’t really like how flippant he was being. Acting like he didn’t leave without warning and didn’t call and only sent a postcard twice to keep him going. “C’mon, it was only a month, are you mad at me?”

“Am I mad?” Carlos asked, huffing a laugh, “You left me and just came back to play hero and you’re asking if I’m mad?”

“Okay, I didn’t _intentionally_ play hero, you were--”

“TK, that’s not the point,” he scoffed, “You just told me your were leaving one day and then _left_ without giving me any time to process it. I know you needed it, I get that, but when you’re in a relationship with someone, you have to think about them too, don’t you? I-I can’t be the only one caring.”

“Hey, you’re not, I care about you,” TK said, gravitating closer. He tried to put his hand on his cheek, but Carlos looked away. “But I would’ve only done you so much more damage if I stayed. I was trying to avoid making you deal with me like that.”

“And what happens next time? Are you just going to leave me again? How long that time? And I’m supposed to just take you back?” Carlos asked. TK’s smile was gone completely by then.

“You think it’s going to happen again?”

“TK,” Carlos scoffed, “That’s inevitable. You’re _going_ to have another low point. Everyone does. If you run from me every time you do, what’s the point? Why did you even come try to find me? If you’re not serious about me, why don’t you leave me alone instead of bringing me to your house and putting me in your bed?” 

TK stared at him for what felt like an eternity. It was like he was trying to piece together a response which honestly felt like progress. He liked the idea of him actually trying to be on the same page.

“I wanted to see you. I want to be serious about you. I _want_ you in my bed,” TK said, licking his lips as he put his coffee mug down, “Do you want me to stick around when I’m doing bad? Do you really wanna see that?”

“When I got into a relationship with you, I didn’t expect it to be all sunshine and roses. You’re not going to scare me away by having low points,” Carlos insisted, “Stop acting like you’re scary. You aren’t. Annoying, yeah, sometimes, but not scary.”

TK huffed a laugh, breathing in deep and leaning a little closer.

“Okay. I won’t run.”

“Good,” Carlos insisted, taking a sip of his coffee to put a little more distance between them. TK smiled again, eyes a little fond. It was nice to see. “And, again, sorry I got drunk. I don’t remember that.”

“It happens.”

“It was irresponsible.”

“Carlos, I don’t think you’ve ever done an irresponsible thing in your life. It’s okay,” TK insisted. He sighed and looked at him. It was annoying how much he’d missed him. He hated missing someone this much.

“I missed you,” he admitted. Saying it out loud gave way to the rest of his feelings and his throat tightened. His eyebrows pulled together as he tried to keep his feeling under control, but it was hard. He’d been lonely. Really fucking lonely.

“I missed you too,” TK said, “Don’t think I didn’t.”

Carlos didn’t say anything, couldn’t, really, without breaking and that wasn’t what he wanted to do right now. TK seemed to notice nonetheless and he grabbed the back of his head, pulling him into a hug. He cradled his head against his neck and just wrapped him up tight. Carlos didn’t want him to let go.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he whispered, “I promise.”

And he just had to believe him.

**Author's Note:**

> also on my tumblr: spaceskam


End file.
